A holiday camp in the December drizzle is not the traditional festival setting, but All Tomorrow's Parties has never fitted in the mainstream. Since its beginnings as a Belle and Sebastian-led weekender 10 years ago, the brand has expanded to four UK festivals this year – including next weekend's birthday bash – with spin-offs in Australia and the US, but has never lost touch with its alt-rock roots.

My Bloody Valentine curated this weekend's festivities, and provide a key to the event's appeal. The Dublin-born band make a fiercely radical racket, but have not produced an album for more than 25 years. In its focus on the seminal guitar acts of the 70s, 80s and 90s, ATP is as much about nostalgia as it is about experimentation.

The setting provides advantages over more traditional festivals – hot showers here are the norm, rather than a luxury – as well as incongruities, such as the ping of air hockey that punctuates the quieter moments of Sonic Youth's fine set. It also encourages a democratic, low-key vibe; not that all the acts are keen to chill out. The Buzzcocks' desperate, chopping punk-pop brought Friday night to a compelling close, while balaclava-clad duo, Lightning Bolt, went at an iron-shod gallop, the bass racing to keep pace with frantic drumming as the mosh pit bounced and tumbled.

The younger acts had something to offer, too. The Horrors mixed epic indie with krautrock symphonics, and sounded souped-up and sharp. But this was about the veterans. The line between monotony and transcendence is a fine one, but My Bloody Valentine walked it in wonderful style, burying shimmering melodies under clouds of noise, eschewing showmanship and banter for a bludgeoning 20 minutes of feedback. When they finished the floor was littered with earplugs and beer cups, and ATP's next decade felt assured.